Maravi

Explain ACB’s collapse, Sata challenges Rupiah

Explain ACB’s collapse, Sata challenges Rupiah
Written by Patson Chilemba
Friday, February 27, 2009 9:09:08 AM

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata yesterday challenged President Rupiah Banda to explain why African Commercial Bank (ACB) collapsed under his directorship and ownership with many people's money.

In an interview, Sata said he would seek legal redress through the Supreme Court should President Banda fail to explain why ACB collapsed.

He said President Banda was now a public official and every secret about him would come out.

"Rupiah Banda was shareholder and director of the bank which has gone bankrupt through excessive insider borrowing. Now that Rupiah Banda is President, we challenge Bank of Zambia (BoZ) to give us details of how African Development Bank collapsed. Failure to explain in seven days, we shall go to the Supreme Court and ask for a tribunal. We are going to subpoena [finance minister Dr Situmbeko] Musokotwane. And by that time when the bank went under, Musokotwane was working for Bank of Zambia. So he is very much aware," Sata said.

"He [President Banda] knows that where he is, it is a hot seat. All secrets he committed both in his private and public capacity collectively will come out. When he led a quiet life in Chipata, no one talked about African Commercial Bank."

Sata said Zambia was the only commodity its people had and Zambians should not go under the way African Commercial Bank went under.

President Banda is said to have used his position as ACB director to overdraw his account with the bank by huge amounts. This prompted the Bank of Zambia to question ACB on the type of banking they were practicising for allowing President Banda to overdraw his account in the manner he did.

It is also said part of the reasons as to why ACB went under was as a result of inside borrowing or inside trading.

And Sata blamed the electoral system in Zambia for having allowed President Banda to contest the presidency when he presided over a bank which went bankrupt.

On President Banda's current reign as President, Sata said Zambians expected President Banda to show resemblance of good governance and not to preside over a government of scandals. He urged President Banda not to emulate former Republican president Frederick Chiluba.

"If we look at Obama, he's doing everything to avert the economic crisis. But our President is not doing anything. So what I am saying is we will not stop criticising Rupiah Banda unless he starts behaving like a President," said Sata. "As at now, he is not even behaving like a cadre."

Labels: ACB, RUPIAH BANDA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 9:09 AM